Video gaming machines for wagering have been widely adopted by the gaming world as the successor to the traditional, reel-based, mechanical slot machine. The term “gaming”, as used herein, indicates that some form of wagering is occurring in the form of currency or an equivalent, e.g., tokens or credits.
The most basic purpose of a gaming apparatus is to display a randomly generated result and its associated payout. Currently, video gaming systems vary greatly in the way they generate the actual representation of a game and its associated results. At any given time, casinos can host hundreds of different games with equally varied features. However, traditionally, the randomly generated results cannot capture the actual “feel” of a game representation.
There is a need for engaging and entertaining games that create a competitive interactive play between the player and gaming machine holds the player's interest and more closely simulates the play of an actual game. The present invention is such a video gaming device and method for wagering on a football simulation game, where the player is awarded for moving the team down the field after the player selects various offensive running and passing formations and after a “movie” is viewed of the play selected. Further, the game play changes based upon the location on the field to more accurately capture the actual “momentum” of the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,885 describes a method for the player to play a wagering sports game such as football. The player makes a wager and defensive and offensive formations are selected and displayed. The play is run and based upon the outcome obtained, the player either wins or loses the wager.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,123 describes a method of playing a game including a plurality of events depicted in a series of sequential, non-identical images identified as a first image, a second image and so forth. A first image selected from the plurality of first images is displayed in a frame on a video monitor. Likewise, a selected one of the second images from the plurality of second images is displayed in a second frame. If the images displayed in the frames sequentially depict the first and second images of the event, a winning condition is achieved. An apparatus for performing the method is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,568 describes to an interactive gaming process and system, comprising a plurality of gaming machines to be played by a plurality of players. Each gaming machine comprises a wagering game and a theme game. The wagering game has features that correspond to the theme game wherein the results of the wagering game influence the results of the theme game as the wagering game is being played. The system includes a controller for electronically linking the gaming machines and providing stimuli to the gaming machines to effect gaming machine outputs that are impartial and random. In one embodiment, the plurality of players play the wagering game as a group wherein if one player's theme game results meet predetermined criteria, the particular player will play for the group, which will split any jackpot. In another embodiment, the plurality of players play as a group wherein activation of each player's wagering game either helps or hinders the group as a whole in its effort to achieve a predetermined goal. In another embodiment, the players play their respective wagering game directly competing against each other in the theme game. The results of the wagering games determine the winnings of each player, the eventual winner of the theme game and/or any predetermined jackpot.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,163 describes a method and apparatus for operating a gaming device having a flat rate play session costing a flat rate price spanning multiple plays on the gaming device over a pre-established duration. The gaming device identifies price parameters and determines the flat rate price of playing the gaming device.
U.S. Patent Publication 2001/0046893 describes a game of chance, involving a progression of events conducted on one or more gaming machines. After receiving a wager from a player at a gaming machine, play of the game is initiated. To continue play of the game beginning from a point at which the game was paused, the personal identifier is provided to the central database via the same or another gaming machine and the game status associated with the personal identifier is retrieved from the central database.
U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0132660 A1 describes a method for wagering on a gaming device where players purchase time on the device as opposed to an individual game where players are allowed to play as many individual games as possible to maximize their returns.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0060255 describes a gaming device having a processor and a display device connected to the processor. The display device displays a plurality of choices to a player, whereby each choice has an associated number of points. The processor provides an initial number of picks to the player. The processor also maintains a regeneration amount, whereby the player receives a new number of picks, if the points associated with the player's choices accumulate at least to the regeneration amount, within the provided number of picks. In one embodiment, accumulating points includes accumulating awards. If the player accumulates a predetermined goal amount of points, the player also wins a goal award.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0060277 describes an apparatus and method for operating a gaming device that enables a player to obtain an award based upon the number of goals the player is able to achieve during game play. The goals advance in difficulty as the player achieves each goal. The game terminates automatically when the player fails to achieve a goal.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0119578 describes a gaming machine and a method of operating such a gaming machine, comprising a video screen adapted to display a game of chance involving game events having random outcomes including winning outcomes and losing outcomes; and means adapted to display a range of video clips, each video clip being designated as either a winning video clip or a losing video clip; wherein the machine displays one of the winning video clips in response to one of the winning outcomes of a game event, and displays one of the losing video clips in response to one of the losing outcome of a game event.
U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0094490 describes a video gaming device and method of wagering on a virtual round of golf or golf game comprising a video touch screen or display and a selector control panel including a plurality of selector control keys to selectively generate a plurality of golf stroke selections and control signals including golf stroke selection signals and wagering selection signals, and a microprocessor including game data comprising a plurality of wager selections and a plurality of club selections corresponding to the golf stroke selection signals and wagering selection signals and a predetermined game situation profile; a data processing section including logic to receive the golf stroke selection signal and control signals from the plurality of selector control keys to generate display signals in response to the club selection and control signals to be displayed on the video screen or display in response to operator input from the plurality of selector control keys and to generate a golf game play image on the video screen or display as the golf stroke executed against the predetermined golf game situation profile and display the wagering results.
Despite these efforts, there is a need for new entertaining interactive gaming devices to maintain players' interest level in wagering on gaming machines.